Where to start a self-build in Ireland: what to do first, second and third

Most people who ask where to begin have none of the three big things yet: no site, no mortgage, no plans. They are also not sure which has to come first. Each depends on the others, and the order matters because the earlier steps are cheap and the later ones are not.

The short answer is to check affordability, then the site and planning prospects, then borrowing, and only then spend real money on land and design.

Step 1: Find out what you can afford

You do not need a lender’s answer yet. You need a range.

1. Put numbers on your income, your savings and anything you will put in, such as a gifted or inherited site or equity in a current home.
2. Use the mortgage affordability calculator for a rough borrowing figure. It is a guide, not an offer.
3. Use the self-build cost calculator and the cost guide to see what a house of your size is likely to cost, with VAT and fees.
4. Subtract the likely cost of a site. The result is the budget for the build.

If the figures do not work, you have learnt that before paying anyone. If they do, you know the size and kind of site to look for. If you cannot buy a site without borrowing, read financing the site. If the site is family land, see building on family land. If you hold an older house, renovate, extend or rebuild compares the routes.

Step 2: Check the site and its planning prospects

A site is worth what the council will allow you to build on it. Two checks stop most sites:

• Planning policy. In the countryside, the council’s rural housing policy may ask for a local connection, and zoned land has its own rules. The rural housing guide and the planning guide explain them.
• Wastewater. Without a public sewer, the ground must be able to treat the water. Test it before you buy.

Also look at access and sightlines, services (water, power, broadband) and flooding. The site works guide lists them. Ask the council about a pre-planning meeting, and ask your solicitor to make any purchase conditional on permission.

Step 3: Talk to lenders

With a rough budget and a site in view, ask for a mortgage approval in principle. It tells you the amount a lender might lend, based on your income and commitments. The self-build mortgage guide shows what lenders ask for and how stage payments work, and the lenders comparison helps you pick who to ask.

An approval in principle is not a loan. A lender will want planning permission, drawings, a cost estimate and a valuation before it makes an offer, and approvals lapse. If you plan to pay from savings and borrow afterwards, read building without a mortgage.

Step 4: Plan the money between the stage payments

Banks pay in stages, so you need cash for each stage before the next payment arrives. Use the stage payment planner and read staged drawdown explained before you commit. Check whether you qualify for Help to Buy, which affects your cash flow.

Step 5: Appoint a designer and apply for permission

Once the site and finance are plausible, an architect or engineer can draw a design that fits the site. The architect or engineer guide explains who does what, and the planning application cost guide lists the fees. Submit when the design, the wastewater report and the site plan agree.

Step 6: Insurance, certification and the build

Before work starts you need insurance in place, an assigned certifier and a commencement notice. Planning your cover early costs nothing and avoids a delay at the lender’s first stage payment.

Once the build begins, the stages guide sets out the order of work. The stage pages have a checklist for each one.

A worked example

This is a made-up case to show the order, not a recommendation. Niamh and Colm earn a combined income that a lender might treat as supporting a loan of a few hundred thousand euro, and they have savings of their own. They do not own land.

1. Affordability. They run the calculators and find that a modest three-bedroom house is within reach, but only if the site costs well under what they first assumed. That rules out the dearer towns before they have viewed anything.
2. Site. They find two plots in the price range. One is on a county road with a hedge on a neighbour’s land, so the sightlines depend on a neighbour agreeing. The other needs a wastewater system, and the sellers allow a test before contracts. The first goes to the bottom of the list.
3. Test and ask. The assessor’s report allows a treatment system on the second plot, and the planning office gives a written pre-planning view. Their solicitor drafts a contract that depends on planning permission being granted.
4. Lender. With a site, a test result and a budget, they ask for an approval in principle from three lenders and compare the answers.
5. Design. Only now do they appoint an architect, who draws the house around the percolation area they already know about.

At no point did they pay for something they might have to abandon before checking the cheaper facts. That is the point of the sequence.

What to do if you are partway through already

Many readers arrive with one of the steps done. Pick up from the first one you have not finished, and check the ones you skipped.

• You own a site. Start at step 2. Test the ground and the planning prospects before commissioning drawings, even if the site is in the family.
• You have a design but no permission. Check the wastewater and sightline requirements against the drawings, and get your lender’s view before you submit.
• You have permission but no finance. Ask a lender what it needs, including the valuation and the cost estimate, and check how long your permission lasts using the permission duration guide.
• You have bought without checking. Ask your solicitor what the contract allows, then get the tests done as soon as you can. If a problem appears, the site suitability guide explains the options.

Why this order

• Cheap checks first. Affordability costs an hour. Planning prospects cost a conversation. A wastewater test costs a few hundred euro or more. A site costs tens of thousands. Drawings cost thousands. The order protects the biggest sums.
• Each step feeds the next. The budget limits the site, the site limits the design, and the design, the permission and the budget together are what a lender approves.
• Lenders need the earlier steps. They will not issue a loan offer without a site and permission, so an approval in principle is a ceiling to search under.

Mistakes people make at the start

• Falling for a site before checking the budget. An emotional attachment pushes people into a stretch they cannot finish.
• Paying a deposit without conditions. A refused permission with a non-refundable deposit is a costly lesson.
• Commissioning full drawings first. If the site fails the wastewater test, the drawings go in the bin.
• Assuming an approval in principle is a promise. It lapses, and it changes if your circumstances or the lender’s policy change.
• Leaving insurance to the end. The lender will ask for it before the first payment.

Checklist for the first month

• A rough borrowing figure and a build budget with VAT and fees
• A list of the sites you could afford, or confirmation you already have one
• The council’s rural housing or zoning policy checked for each site
• A wastewater assessment booked, or the site connects to a public sewer
• Two or three lenders asked about approval in principle
• A solicitor ready to make any purchase conditional on permission